After the team receives the initial drafts, there is a round of suggestions and changes. Generally, there will just be one round of edits. Depending on the project, the team may need to incorporate a range of elements. Imagine this scenario: A video requires input from a designer, copywriter, and editor.

In this stage, the team combines these elements and submits them for approval. Once the final draft has been submitted, stakeholders will decide whether the submission is approved. Here are further tips to help you master each type of process:. The most common barriers that organizations face are large file sizes, slow internet speeds, and a lack of technical understanding from various stakeholders.

Here are ways to resolve these issues:. First and foremost, you want to make things as simple as possible for everybody involved in the review and approval process. In other words, you should use simple file formats, reduce file sizes, and eliminate the use of complex software.

A review and approval software like Filestage can help make life easier for everyone in the review and approval process, regardless of their level of technical ability.

Plus it can help dramatically speed up your approval processes. To make life easier, you should do your best to make sure that everyone uses a clear, common vocabulary. Your video engineer might understand what a bridging shot is, but if everyone is using technical language, confusion may occur.

You should collect feedback throughout the review and approval process, and it should be simple, accurate, and clear. In other words, you need to find a way to package feedback and deliver it to the video engineer in a predictable way.

With Filestage, your colleagues and clients can leave comments on top of videos and request changes wherever they are needed. This way, no one needs to worry about timestamps. Document review can be particularly challenging if the copy is simultaneously reviewed by various stakeholders.

Therefore, these stakeholders are responding to copy that has already been altered, which can cause real headaches for copywriters.

Here are tips for cleaning up the process:. If a single stakeholder fails to track their changes, you could lose lots of time, since other stakeholders will edit the incorrect versions of the copy. If your stakeholders are reviewing and suggesting changes at the same time, it can create confusion for everybody involved.

This mistake can make it impossible to track and implement all the requested changes. Your colleagues and clients can easily leave change requests at the same time without struggling with overlapped feedback. When compared to video and graphic content, most stakeholders will have opinions about how to improve the copy.

This fact can be challenging, so you should be sure to accurately track the different versions of your copy.

So you should store all changes in a logical way. Why document approval processes are crucial They help automate your workflow Tasks like contract review can be extremely time-consuming for companies when performed manually. They facilitate team communication A clear path defined for each document means that there are fewer chances for misunderstandings or mistakes to slip past.

They increase efficiency An approval workflow makes it easier for employees at all levels in an organization to submit documents, papers, or requests that have been reviewed by others before they are submitted for final approval. Approval workflow best practices 1.

Get the right document management system The first step to crafting the perfect document review and approval process is to pick a document management system that supports your workflow.

It also enables you to set different permission levels for your files. Client-facing documents, however, need to go through a formal approval process before they can be sent to your clients. These include legal documents, contracts, proposals, and many others.

Intermediaries also known as editors. These employees act as a go-between for approvers and submitters, reviewing documents for clarity and suggesting changes if needed.

Managers also known as workflow managers or workflow administrators. Set up conditional approval rules for your workflow Conditional rules allow you to route documents based on criteria that you set. Include reviews at various stages Another way to save time in your document approval process is to add reviews at various stages.

The process for this is as follows: Figure out what reviews are needed and at which stages. Answer the following questions; do the reviews need to be done by particular individuals or can there be a few people in order to avoid delays?

This can keep the document approval process flowing and avoid any bottlenecking. Build review stages with the use of visibility The most critical thing to take into consideration when deciding on the stages in a review process is visibility.

When considering multiple projects, you should determine the following: What information do you want to be able to quickly identify?

Why might there be a delay in the workflow? What upcoming deadlines are there, and what is their status? Visibility into these areas can help you to formulate more intelligent review stages.

How will sensitive documents be protected? How will the team decide what can be shared externally? How will feedback be incorporated?

How many times will you accept feedback before progressing to the next stage? Take advantage of reminder systems Delays can be a big issue when you have multiple review stages and both internal and external reviewers. Automated notifications can be great here—and not just about the overall project.

Utilize templates for automated workflows Many companies choose to create automated workflow templates in order to apply a standardized set of information and decision steps across several different projects.

A handful of templates will probably be enough to automate a multi-step approval process. Kissflow is a cloud-based business process and workflow management tool that can help you automate approval processes in your organization in less than 15 minutes.

It also offers heightened data security with role-based access, which means you can control who has access to the data. The first step is to create a form that includes all the parameters of your approval process.

Kissflow Workflow allows users to add custom fields for attaching files, auto-populating data, tables, and much more. The next step is to create a workflow for the approval process. This can be as simple as a one-step process that only involves your team manager, or it can include multiple levels of approval from different departments within the organization.

The final step is to add all the people involved in the approval process so that they can submit, view, approve or reject documents. At this step, you can also decide which users are allowed to edit and modify the data. Try Kissflow Workflow for free today to customize and automate approval processes for your team easily.

By proceeding, you agree to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. The platform is simple and highly intuitive, so anyone can use it. This website uses cookies to ensure you get the best experience. Check our Privacy Policy. Weekly Live Demo: Join us for a live demo to see Kissflow in action.

Register Now ×. Workflow The Definitive Guide to Approval Processes What is an approval process? What is an Approval System? What is approval management? Approval Process Elements A standard approval process has the following elements: Submission documents The submission documents can be anything that needs to be approved, whether its an invoice, a purchase quote, or any other internal document.

Approvers The approvers are the ones who decide whether the submitted documents should be approved or rejected. Due dates Just like any other business process, approval processes should also have set deadlines so that they can be initiated and completed in a timely manner. Logs Recording every step of the approval process is just as important not only to maintain transparency throughout the organisation, but also to easily view and track all the actions in case of a discrepancy.

Examples of approval processes used by organizations With the right approval processes in place, you can quickly review each deliverable and get approvals more quickly. Invoices Approvals Before approving an invoice, the accounting department needs to verify a series of parameters.

Budget Approvals Managing operational budgets are an important part of the company's function.

First approver receives work First approver approves or rejects work Submit to final approver

Video

Simple approval process - Assign the work task First approver receives work First approver approves or rejects work Submit to final approver

The creative team starts creating an initial draft that the relevant stakeholders will closely review. After the team receives the initial drafts, there is a round of suggestions and changes.

Generally, there will just be one round of edits. Depending on the project, the team may need to incorporate a range of elements. Imagine this scenario: A video requires input from a designer, copywriter, and editor. In this stage, the team combines these elements and submits them for approval.

Once the final draft has been submitted, stakeholders will decide whether the submission is approved. Here are further tips to help you master each type of process:. The most common barriers that organizations face are large file sizes, slow internet speeds, and a lack of technical understanding from various stakeholders.

Here are ways to resolve these issues:. First and foremost, you want to make things as simple as possible for everybody involved in the review and approval process. In other words, you should use simple file formats, reduce file sizes, and eliminate the use of complex software. A review and approval software like Filestage can help make life easier for everyone in the review and approval process, regardless of their level of technical ability.

Plus it can help dramatically speed up your approval processes. To make life easier, you should do your best to make sure that everyone uses a clear, common vocabulary. Your video engineer might understand what a bridging shot is, but if everyone is using technical language, confusion may occur.

You should collect feedback throughout the review and approval process, and it should be simple, accurate, and clear. In other words, you need to find a way to package feedback and deliver it to the video engineer in a predictable way. With Filestage, your colleagues and clients can leave comments on top of videos and request changes wherever they are needed.

This way, no one needs to worry about timestamps. Document review can be particularly challenging if the copy is simultaneously reviewed by various stakeholders.

Therefore, these stakeholders are responding to copy that has already been altered, which can cause real headaches for copywriters. Here are tips for cleaning up the process:. If a single stakeholder fails to track their changes, you could lose lots of time, since other stakeholders will edit the incorrect versions of the copy.

If your stakeholders are reviewing and suggesting changes at the same time, it can create confusion for everybody involved. This mistake can make it impossible to track and implement all the requested changes.

Your colleagues and clients can easily leave change requests at the same time without struggling with overlapped feedback. When compared to video and graphic content, most stakeholders will have opinions about how to improve the copy. This fact can be challenging, so you should be sure to accurately track the different versions of your copy.

So you should store all changes in a logical way. It can also be challenging to review the design of printed and digital materials. Without a clear idea of the review and approval process, you might find that some stakeholders will make suggestions about copy, and vice versa.

This fact can disrupt your working process and frustrate your team. This tip can expedite the speed of the implementation of requested changes. If your graphic designer and art director are using printouts etched with markings in pen, it can be difficult to know where to start.

Some stakeholders may fail to realize that this feedback is very difficult to interpret and implement. Graphic design is a laborious task that requires a lot of time.

This tip is especially relevant if your coding was involved in your digital project, so your project timeline should accommodate regular review. Then when you reach the final review and approval process, no one will request large changes.

If someone requests a large change at this stage of the game, it can be very disruptive and threaten to derail the entire project. Then someone would have to readjust the copy according to those changes, and the quality of the work would suffer.

This tactic will help them undo any changes, and it also serves as a record of the implementation of requested revisions. By keeping track of versions in this manner, you can keep the project moving along smoothly, and you can make sure that your team is happy with their work, rather than frustrated.

If you spend the time to fine-tune your review and approval process, it can really pay dividends. Start with a form to display the necessary data. You could keep it super simple and just attach a PDF the invoice, or you could better integrate your workflow from start to finish by using fields like sequence numbers, auto-populating custom fields, and tables that calculate the invoice price based on quantity.

Then, create a workflow. This can be as simple as a one-step approval from a sales manager. Sharepoint approval workflows are an undeniably powerful and highly functional alternative, but they have some serious disadvantages.

While the cost of implementation itself may be a little high, maintaining an approval workflow on Sharepoint proves incredibly expensive. If your working style is built on being able to adapt quickly to emerging business trends and needs, you need an alternative to Sharepoint approval workflows —like Kissflow.

Ever found yourself wondering if an automated workflow might be something that would ease the pressure? Kissflow Workflow not only allows you to create custom approval workflows but can significantly cut short approval and fulfilment times.

Try it for free. By proceeding, you agree to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. The platform is simple and highly intuitive, so anyone can use it.

This website uses cookies to ensure you get the best experience. Check our Privacy Policy. Workflow How to Create an Approval Workflow in Less Than 15 Min What is an approval workflow?

Types of Approval Workflows There are two types of approvals within a workflow—sequential and parallel approvals. Sequential approvals are those approvals that essentially pause action to the next step within the workflow until the approval step is fulfilled.

A parallel approval, on the other hand, treats approval as a separate line item and hence does not pause action within the workflow.

Bring in professional approval workflow software Kissflow is already world-famous with thousands of enterprises, big and small who use it for their approval workflows.

Learn more about Kissflow Approval Workflow Software Steps to create approval workflows in Kissflow Step 1: Start with a form Start with a form to display the necessary data.